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Search suspended for man in river

Authorities searched the Colorado River in the No Name area just east of Glenwood Springs most of Wednesday afternoon and evening for a man in his early 20s who reportedly fell in the river shortly after 3 p.m.

The man was not found as of 9 p.m., when the search was suspended because of darkness. It was scheduled to resume early today, according to the Garfield County Sheriff’s Department.

The man, who was not identified, was reportedly crossing the river with two others in an old cable basket via a pulley system rigged up just above the river’s surface.

Phil Strouse, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department, said the basket was not affiliated with the new zip line system.

As the three were trying to cross the river shortly after 3 p.m. Wednesday, the basket touched the river and tipped.

The river is flowing at about 8,000 cubic feet per second at No Name, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

None of the three people in the basket was wearing personal flotation devices. One man fell into the river and disappeared. The other two people safely made it to shore in the basket, Strouse said.

Members of Garfield County Search and Rescue, the Sheriff’s Department, the Glenwood Springs Police Department, the Glenwood Springs Fire Department, the Colorado State Patrol, the Colorado Department of Transportation and a private rafting company combined to search about six hours for the man between No Name downstream to Glenwood Springs with no sign of him, Strouse said.